Apparatus for cooling gun barrels



Oct. 1955 J. P. YOUNG APPARATUS FOR COOLING GUN BARRELS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 10, 1947 ulllll'lll lllllllll TI'ORNEY k wk Oct. 2, 1956 J. P. YOUNG APPARATUS FOR coouwc GUN BARRELS 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 10, 1947 4 ATTOEY Oct. 2, 1956 J. P. YOUNG APPARATUS FOR COOLING cum BARRELS 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed 06'0- lO, 1947 A a m .V u v A Y A A c 1956 J. P. YOUNG APPARATUS FOR COOLING GUN BARRELS 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed 00%.(10, 1947 INVENTOR JOHN F? YO NG Oct. 2, 1956 J.- P. YOUNG APPARATUS FOR COOLING GUN BARRELS 5 Sheets-$heet 5 Filed Oct. 10, 1947 United States Patent jO APPARATUS FOR COOLING GUN BARRELS John P. Young, Johnson, Vt., assignor to the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of Commerce Application October 10, 1947, Serial No. 779,089

4 Claims. (Cl. 8914.1)

(Granted under Title 35, U. S. Code (1952), sec. 266) The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States for governmental purposes without the payment to me of any royalty thereon in accordance with the provisions of the Act of April 30, 1928 (Ch. 460, 45 Stat. L. 467).

My invention relates to a coolant injector attachment for the cooling of gun barrels and particularly to a method and an attachment for cooling with atomized liquid. The use of my attachment does not involve altering or rebuilding the rapid fire guns now in service.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating two embodiments of my invention:

Figure l is a side elevation of one form of my device secured to the lower face of't'he receiver of a rapid fire gun by bolts, not shown, a portion of the breech being shown in longitudinal cross section, the device being in inoperative position.

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1, my device being in operative position, part of the atomizing nozzle being in section. v Figure 3 is a section of the nozzle on the line 33 of Fig; 2.

Figure 4 is an enlarged view of the nozzle and rotary plug valve looking from the right, Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a view of a modification adapted for use in a diiferent gun, with my device in inoperative position.

Figure 6 is a view of this modification in operative position.

Figure 7 is a detail showing the position of a cam member and a sliding bolt and revoluble bolt head when in inoperative position.

Figure 8 is plan view of the modification.

Figure 9 is an elevation from the right of Figure 8.

Figure 10 is a partial section on the line 1010 of Figure 8.

Figure 11 is an elevation, partly in section, from below, Figure 8.

In these drawings:

Referring to the modification shown in Figures 1 to 4 inclusive, a bracket 11 is bolted to the underside of a receiver 12, with a two-part upward extension 13, 14 projecting into a slot in a barrel extension 15. A coolant injector which includes an atomizing nozzle 16 which is integrally united with a cylindrical plug valve 17 and is provided with a central passage 18 for water and an injector-type passage 19 for air under pressure. These passages 18 and 19 are connected through the cylindrical plug valve 17 with a water passage 20 and an air passage 21 in the bracket 11.

The plug valve 17 is provided with a radially extending arm 22 in a recess 23 in the bracket 11 to which arm is connected a coiled spring 24 housed in a recess 25 in the bracket 11. When turned to inoperative position the nozzle 16 folds into a recess 26 in the bracket extension 13, 14 (Fig. 1) in which position the valve plug 17 closes both the water and air passages 20, 21, from suitable supplies of water and compressed air, not shown. The coiled spring 24 provides a resilient means for urging the A 2,764,914 Patented Oct. 2, 1-956 atomizing nozzle 16 into operative atomizing position in opposition to the bolt head 46 of the gun.

Referring to the modification illustrated in Figures 5 to 11:

A bracket 31 is provided with a concave upper surface for fitting the underside of a gun barrel breech 32 by means of threaded bolts 33 and 34 in bolt holes 35, 36; The bracket 31 is provided with a housing extension 37 for telescopically slidably supporting a vertical slide 38 which slide is retained by detachable guides 39 and 40, the latter being made with an integral stop 41 (Fig. 11) which is engaged by a lug 42 on the slide 38. The slide 38 is supported by two compression springs 43 partially housed in tubes 44 in the extension 37.

To the slide 38 there is rigidly attached a cam 45'which bears against the bolt head 46 due to the resilient pressure of the compression springs 43. In this position compressed air and water are admitted from suitable sources of supply, not shown, through pipes 47, 48 (Fig. 8) and passages 49 and 50 in the bracket 31, the discharge ends of said passage aligning with inlets 51 and 52 of the slide 38 when the latter is at its maximum height, in which position water is atomized by the compressed air as it is discharged from a nozzle 53 into the open breech of the gun.

The operation of my device is as follows:

Referring to Figure 1, when an empty shell 27 is retracted and discharged by the retraction of thelbolt, the nozzle 16 is released and raised into operative atomizing position, see Figure 2, in which positionan atomized spray of water is projected through the gun barrel by the compressed air, the vaporization of the water causing a rapid absorption of heat from the barrel whilev the expansion of water converted into steam assists in expelling the products of the explosion of the latest shell charge. As the bolt is returned with a loaded cartridge, the latter pushes the nozzle down against the resilient resistance of the spring 24 into the initial inoperative position, Figure l.

The operation of the modification illustrated in Figures 5 to 11 is as follows:

Figure 5 illustrates the device at the instant of the fir,- ing of a shell 54 with the cam 45 in the lowest position and the supplies of air and water closed. The automatic unlocking and retraction of the bolt head 46 and simultaneous discharge of the empty shell 54 releases the cam 45 which rises as the bolt head retreats until the inlets 51, 52 are aligned with the air and water passages 49 and 50 thereby permitting an atomized spray discharge into the hot barrel, the return of the bolt head 46 also returns the cam 45 with the attached slide 38 into the initial inoperative position.

My device serves to cool a machine gun barrel with a fine spray of atomized water and compressed air and its use has resulted in an increase in the useful life of a gun barrel up to five fold. The interior of the gun barrel is blanketed with this fine spray thereby expediting the cooling of the barrel by a rapid evaporation of the spray, which evaporation of the water also assists the injected air and water to discharge from the gun barrel the hot products of the explosion of the latest cartridge used, as well as any excess of liquid.

My method of cooling eliminates the danger of an excess of liquid remaining in the barrel when the next round is fired which might result in deforming the barrel by expansion or even by bursting. The use of my injector allows an accelerated rate of firing, the use of hotter" powders for higher velocity or a greatly increased barrel life.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purpose of illustration only, and that the invention includes all modifications and equivalents which fall Within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. An attachment for a rapid fire gun to project atomized water spray throughout the extent of the gun barrel between rounds of gun fire to cool the barrel, which cornprises a. supporting bracket adapted to be secured to the gun and provided with passages for liquid and for compressed gas, a nozzle pivotally mounted on said bracket and provided with two passages adapted to align with corresponding passages in said bracket to form a valve, means for intermittently projecting the nozzle about its pivot into operative position to face into the bore of the gun barrel between each round of gun fire, and means for supplying air and Water from the bracket through the valve to the nozzle when in operative position whereby atomized spray is projected into the gun barrel between successive rounds of gun fire.

2. An attachment for a rapid fire gun to project atomized water spray throughout the extent of the gun barrel between rounds of gun fire to cool the barrel, which comprises a bracket adapted to be secured to the un and provided with a cylindrical bearing and having a water passage and an air passage opening into the bearing, a cylindrical plug valve mounted for rotation within the bearing, an atomizing nozzle unitary with and projecting radially outwardly from the plug valve and provided with a passage for water and a passage for air under pressure, the valve being provided with a water passage and an air passage adapted on rotation to bring the corresponding passages in the receiver and nozzle into communication when the nozzle is in operative position and out of communication when the nozzle is in inoperative position, resilient means for intermittently projecting the nozzle into operative position to face into the bore of the gun barrel between each round of gun fire and into the path of a shell to be inserted into the gun barrel whereby when the shell is inserted it pushes the nozzle into inoperative position and when the shell is withdrawn the resilient means forces the nozzle into position aligned with the gun barrel whereby atomized spray is projected into the gun barrel between successive rounds of gun fire.

3. An attachment for a rapid fire gun to project atomized water spray throughout the extent of the gun barrel between rounds of gun fire to cool the barrel, comprising a bracket adapted to be secured to the gun and provided with passages for liquid and for compressed gas, an atomizing nozzle slidably mounted in said bracket with two passages adapted to align with corresponding passages in said bracket to form a valve, resilient means for intermittently projecting the nozzle into operative position to face into the bore of the gun barrel between each round of gun fire, and a cam adapted to force said nozzle into inoperative position by engagement with the belt of the gun as it is moved into firing position.

4. An attachment for a rapid fire gun to project atomized water spray throughout the extent of the gun barrel between rounds of gun fire to cool the barrel, which comprises a bracket adapted to be secured to the gun and including a housing constituting a slideway projecting radially toward the longitudinal axis of the gun barrel, the bracket being provided with a water passage and an air passage opening into the slideway, a nozzle mounted in said slideway for reciprocating movement with a passage for water and a passage for compressed air, the passages at one end opening outwardly through a common outlet at the nozzle and at their other end adapted to communicate with the corresponding passages of the bracket when the nozzle is in its outermost position, resilient means adapted to project said nozzle into said outermost position to face into the bore of the gun barrel between each round of gun fire, and a cam carried by the nozzle and extending into alignment with the bore of the gun barrel whereby the cam is engaged by the bolt of the gun moving forward toward the end of the gun barrel to force the nozzle into inoperative position against the pressure of said-resilient means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 782,701 Sawyer Feb. 14, 1905 783,050 Knapp et al. Feb. 21, 1905 1,351,017 Blackmore Aug. 31, 1920 1,423,757 Dawson July 25, 1922 2,416,768 Monner Mar. 4, 1947 2,427,374 Walker Sept. 16, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS 28,785 Great Britain Dec. 15, 1904 188,086 Germany July 18, 1909 131,776 Great Britain Sept. 4, 1919 

